Any reason to buy the Analog Discovery 3 over the ADP3450?

[magnitudephase]

Hi all,

 

I've got several AD2 devices and love them. I'd really like to get the configurable filters of the AD3 and routing input/output signals around, and would also benefit from having four channels (plus the other features in the ADP3450). It looks like these key features of the AD3 were added to the ADP3450 firmware in Waveforms 3.20.1 (https://digilent.com/reference/software/waveforms/waveforms-3/change-logs/3-20-1):

Quote

 

ADP3X50, EclypseZ7:

Scope and Logic uses DDR Ram capture buffer of 256Mi/128Mi samples

in device FIR/IIR filter, Scope capture of Wavegen output and modulations

raw or filtered Scope input routing to Wavegen signal or modulation

 

So my question is, is there any feature present on the AD3 that's not present on the ADP3450, and will the newer FPGA of the ADP3450 allow for feature parity with the AD3 from now on? I know the second can't be guaranteed, so I guess I'm wondering if there's any major hardware differences in the AD3 that improve upon the ADP3450.

 

Thanks!

[JColvin]

Hi @magnitudephase,

This post may be of interest to you:

From my understanding, the ADP3450 will always be at, or beyond, feature parity with the Analog Discovery 3 due to the larger Zynq device present within the ADP3450. There is not any hardware features unique to the AD3 that the ADP3450 does not have access to or won't be able to implement within its own FPGA hardware (unless you count the USB C connector on the AD3, but I would not count it as it operates at USB 2.0 speeds).

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
JColvin

P.S. Technically, the FIR filter was added to the ADP3x50 and device loopback in the 3.19.30 beta version, with IIR filter added even earlier in 3.19.21.

 

[magnitudephase]

Thanks very much @JColvin!

[attila]

Hi @magnitudephase

The ADP3450 has larger programmable logic, which already implements more features and it still has free space, it provides larger device buffers.
The pros for the two are:
- ADP3450 has BNC connectors, 4 single ended oscilloscope inputs, AC/DC, BW limit, FIR+IIR, lets you capture 128Mi&64Mi oscilloscope&digital samples, device capture buffering with <1us latency, adjustable DIO voltage, embedded Linux option
- AD3 is more portable, USB powered, 2 differential oscilloscope inputs, FIR, positive&negative supplies, the ADC&DAC clocking is better with less jitter

[magnitudephase]

Thanks @attila! Is it also possible to provide an external 10MHz (or other frequency) clock to the ADP3450? I think I saw somewhere that this was possible on the AD3 but I can't find it now.

[attila]

Hi @magnitudephase

Yes.